(Yicai Global) Jan. 12 -- China National Pharmaceutical Group, also known as Sinopharm, is negotiating with Merck to also make the US drugmaker’s Covid-19 antiviral treatment Molnupiravir in China. Sinopharm is already its exclusive importer and distributor in the country.

Sinopharm would be able to make and supply Molnupiravir in China if the Beijing-based firm secures the production technology license, Merck China said on its WeChat account yesterday.

Chinese regulators gave conditional approval for imports of Molnupiravir, co-developed with US biotech firm Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, on Dec. 29, making it China’s second imported small-molecule Covid oral drug after Pfizer’s Paxlovid.

Merck China also said some companies have been selling unlicensed generic drugs based on Molnupiravir in areas of China such as Zhejiang province, claiming that Merck has authorized them or donated the treatment. The firm will take legal action against them, it said.

Sinopharm is Molnupiravir’s only licensed importer in China that can oversee distribution to dealers, Merck added, noting it never authorized any other companies in the country to produce Molnupiravir or make any generic drugs for sale in China.

Molnupiravir has been priced at CNY1,500 (USD222) per 40-capsule bottle on its first launch in China, Merck said. That is less than its USD712 cost in the United States, Japan, and South Korea, and also cheaper than Paxlovid, which has a provisional price of CNY1,890 a box through medical insurance in some parts of China.

Editors: Shi Yi, Martin Kadiev